The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides protection against the misuse and misreporting of your credit information. When creditors, collectors, or credit reporting agencies violate the provisions of the FCRA, it can cause a lower credit score, denial of credit, higher interest rates on loans and credit extensions, and more. It’s important to recognize when the FCRA has been violated, so you can take action and prevent harm to your credit. This article describes some of the more common FCRA violations.

So What Is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?

The FCRA governs the behavior of consumer reporting agencies (also called credit bureaus) and the businesses or individuals that report information to the consumer reporting agencies (CRAs). The CRAs compile this information into your credit report. Your credit report serves an important purpose. It can determine whether you can obtain a mortgage, car loan, job, and even an apartment. The FCRA tells CRAs, creditors, and other authorized persons what they can and cannot do with your credit information.

Most Common Types of FCRA Violations

While violations of the FCRA can take many forms, below are some of the more common ways that creditors, collectors, and CRAs have violated the FCRA in the past:

Furnishing and Reporting Old Information

CRAs and the creditors who supply information to them must provide and keep your credit information current. When your credit circumstances have changed and the information in your credit report is not updated to reflect these changes, this may be a violation of the FCRA. Some examples of this include:

failing to report that a debt was discharged in bankruptcy;

reporting old debts as new or re-aged;

reporting an account as active when it was voluntarily closed by a consumer, and

reporting information that is more than seven years old (bankruptcy) or ten years old (civil judgments).

Furnishing and Reporting Inaccurate Information

Your creditor must not supply information to a CRA that it knows (or should know) is inaccurate. That includes:

reporting a debt as charged off when you settled it or paid it in full

misstating the balance due

reporting late payments when you paid timely

listing you as a debtor on an account when you were only the authorized user, or

supplying credit information on an account where identity theft was previously reported (or failing to maintain a reasonable procedure for you to report identity theft).

Mixed Files

CRAs can also run afoul of their obligations to report accurate credit information about you. In many instances, this happens when a credit bureau mixes your file with that belonging to someone else with similar background information. Some common cases of mixed files include:

morphing or duplicating negative credit information with a stranger who shares a similar social security number

failing to distinguish the Jr. and Sr. in similar surnames

mixing the information of persons with the same last name and similar first names, and

combining or mixing credit files of persons with similar names living in the same city or zip code.

Failing to Follow Debt Dispute Procedures

When you submit a written dispute about the accuracy of an item on your report, credit bureaus and your creditors must take certain actions in response. Their duties include conducting a reasonable investigation of your dispute, correcting any inaccurate information, or even removing the disputed debt from your credit report. There are a number of ways they can fall short of their duties, depending on whether they are the CRA or the creditor.

Debt Dispute Violations by CRAs

Some common violations by a CRA include failing to:

notify a creditor that you dispute the debt that it has reported

conduct a reasonable investigation of your dispute, or

correct or delete any inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information within 30 days of the receiving notice of your dispute.

Some common violations by a creditor or other information furnisher include failing to:

refrain from continuing to submit information that it knows (or should know) is incorrect

conduct an internal investigation of your dispute within 30 days (or 45 days of you supply additional information during the investigation)

provide you with a reasonable procedure (including an address) to submit a written dispute or report of identity theft, or

inform you of the results of its investigation within 5 business days after it completes the investigation.

Privacy Violations

CRAs cannot release your credit report to just anybody. They can only give them to authorized persons. CRAs may disclose your report only to persons or entities that have a “valid need,” such as:

creditors

landlords

insurance providers

utility companies, and

employers (only if you previously consented).

Requesting a Credit Report for an Impermissible Purpose

Even though your employer, creditor, or landlord might be allowed to pull your credit report, they must still have a permissible purpose to do so. If someone pulls your credit report for an impermissible purpose, then it may be a violation of the FCRA. Some examples of impermissible purposes include:

someone pulls your credit report to determine if you are collectible before filing a lawsuit against you on an involuntary debt or other non-credit matter (for example, in determining whether to file a personal injury lawsuit)

your employer pulls your credit report without your permission, or

a creditor on a debt you discharged in bankruptcy pulls your credit report to check out your current financial activity.

Withholding Notices

You are entitled to notices concerning the reporting, handling, and use of your credit information. Notice violations under the FCRA might occur when:

a creditor fails to notify you when it supplies negative credit information to a CRA

a “user of credit information” (such as prospective employer or lender) fails to notify you of a negative decision based upon your credit report

a creditor fails to provide you with your credit score if it was used as part of any credit decision

a creditor fails to notify you of your right to dispute inaccurate credit information

a creditor fails to notify you of your right to obtain a free credit report, or

a creditor or “user of information” refuses to identify the source of the credit information it obtained about you.

Remedies

If any of these three types of entities (credit bureau, creditor, or information user) violated your rights under the FCRA, you may be able to sue them in state or federal court for to win compensation. In cases where you can prove that the violations were willful, you may be entitled to up to $1,000 in statutory damages as well as any actual damages you have suffered. Even better, in any type of FCRA case where you are successful, you can get the violator to pay for your attorneys’ fees and any costs involved in the case.

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Please review this list and check all that apply. If you are being subjected to any of the following by a debt collector you may have a case under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or other consumer protection statutes:

Have you received collection letters within the past 12 months?*

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Are they leaving you voicemails or sending you e-mails or text messages*

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Are they using threatening or profane language?*

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Are you receiving multiple calls per day from the same creditor/collector?*

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Are they calling after you have asked them to stop?*

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Are you receiving calls before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.?*

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Are they calling after you have disputed the debt?*

(or a portion of the debt)

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Are you receiving calls at your workplace?*

(especially after you've already told them not to)

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Are they threatening to sue you or destroy your credit?*

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Are they talking to others about your debt?*

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Are they telling you the only way to get collection calls to stop is to make a payment?*

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Are they leaving messages with others to get you to call them back?*

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Did they fail to send you a letter within 5 days of the first phone call?*

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Are they calling about a debt you don't owe or have already paid?*

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Are they calling about a debt which is on a payment plan?*

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Are they demanding payment for incorrect balance?*

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Are they referring to your debt as a crime or shaming you?*

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Are they failing to notify you of your right to dispute the debt?*

Yes

No

Are they setting up recurring payments out of your checking account or using your debit card?*

(not credit card)

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Additional Details:

Sturycz Law Group provides a free evaluation of your case(s). If we recommend filing a lawsuit we will fight to win you compensation under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act or other consumer protection laws at no cost to you. If you have any questions about this form, call us at (877) 314-3223

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